B.C. First Nation gives natural gas company one-time access to winterize site
Coastal GasLink says crews were on site Sunday and maintenance work is anticipated to take several hours
A spokesperson for the Unist'ot'en Healing Centre says the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have given a natural gas company one-time access to a construction site so it can be winterized.
Karla Tait said Coastal GasLink had six to eight hours for a work crew to winterize their personnel accommodations and equipment at Site 9A to avoid damages to the company's assets and the surrounding environment.
The hereditary chiefs issued an eviction notice on Jan. 5 to Coastal GasLink for an area within their traditional territory near Houston, B.C.
Tait says the access will be monitored by a hereditary chief, a third-party contractor and a media recorder to ensure it is in compliance with the access terms.
Coastal GasLink spokesperson Suzanne Wilton said Sunday that crews were on site and maintenance work was anticipated to take several hours.
The company has provincial approval to build a 670-kilometre pipeline from northeastern British Columbia to LNG Canada's $40-billion export terminal in Kitimat..
The company has also signed agreements with all 20 elected First Nation councils along the pipeline route, but the five Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chiefs say no one can access the land without their consent.